The present invention relates to modular building systems and, more particularly, to such systems which comprise modular frames and panels of a configuration such that all components on the building module can be fabricated in a factory, transported in a kit and erected in the field with minimal requirement of skilled labor and specialized tools.
There has long been a need for so-called modular housing. The need for such housing is present from time to time in a variety of use applications. Examples of such are disaster housing, hospitals, school classrooms, storage warehouses, field offices military uses, room additions, shipping containers, and auxiliary structures to almost any kind of building. Numerous approaches to providing various types of modular housing have been proposed. These include Quonset huts, Dallas huts, inflatable structures, trailers, mobile homes, and various types of prefabricated structures. While these may have the capability of providing the desired enclosures in certain applications, all of these types of temporary enclosures, so far as is known, present drawbacks of two major types: either they are substantially constructed in a factory, in which case transportation to the site is a problem, or too much is left to construction on the site, in which case the erection costs are high because of the need for skilled workmen and specialized tools at the site, or both. Indeed, structures of the latter type may be precluded from consideration for use in some areas of the world where the population does not have the equipment or skilled personnel to finish construction of the buildings from the prefabricated units that are shipped from a factory.
Arrangements in accordance with the present invention satisfy the need for modular building construction and obviate the drawbacks in presently known temporary housing by providing prefabricated elements in a flat, essentially two-dimensional configuration which permits all of the elements for a given structure to be shipped in a very compact package to the site where erection can be accomplished by the simplest of procedures.